my computer has totally died. As some of you will know msn crashed and wouldnt let me back on, so i am at the end of the line now and am fed up of shouting at it, so im taking it to get fixed...hopefully. so that means no more me for a while!
byeeeeeeeeee
see ya all sooooon ;D <3
*kimmie leaves whilst cursing the person or people who damaged her computer with viruses and pop ups and woteva the hell is wrong with the comp*
wow, well that freaking sucks :(
omg dont get lost kimmieh :'(
She won't get lost. If she does then theres at least two people who can hunt her down like a rabbit....
Say i dont wanna leave...what am i gonna do with my time now?
i could learn how to knit :suffer: ...erm no!
i could do some excersise...probably
i could watch tv and mess around with julie...yeh that sounds about right...oh yeah and revision!
hope i wont get lost :S see ya later hun <3
:'( :'( :'(
QuoteShe won't get lost. If she does then theres at least two people who can hunt her down like a rabbit....
:o two people...omg...2 people...who?? no1 knows where i live. ok so u were pretty damn close to me the other day but ...but...AHH![/glow]
Bye
:o :o come back soon plz!!
i could think of a list you could do when you are not online but you wouldn't be able to read it anyway ; \ ...at least not till you come back again and then there is no use for it ; )
Kimmie! You WILL be missed! I'll send messages to you through Alex! I'm sure he'll text you for me...right Alex?
Cat
Now who am i going to talk to at 7 in the morning before i go to bed =(
i will miss ya Kimmie :'(, come back as quickly as you can ;D
*stabs Kimmie's PC*
Awww, if I lived across the Atlantic I would definitely help ya kill those viruses and popups! >:(
:-[ Let me help you Kimmie before you go to a Computer place, i am smart with Computers.
Besides, my Uncle took his Computer to some amateur and wiped his Computer clean without telling my Uncle. My Uncly wasted 60 Pounds.
*starts to suffer Kimmie withdrawl*
:X
BYE, Kimme! Misses her already. :'(
hey guys, im kinda still here. dad bought an anti virus thing hoping it would work b4 we took it to pc world. msn still isnt working and im stuck with windows messenger which prevents me from doing anything. MEH!
tbh daventry i would rather hav professionals look at it. we hav a 2 yr guarantee so if they mess it up, they pay! :suffer: but thanx anyway.
dont miss me guys, think of the word banana and i am there! ;D
thanx neil :-*
Hey Kimmie, make sure you tell the professionals to "scan it for spyware" and that your MSN Messenger is screwed up. :)
Neil, an employee told me at Best Buy on Friday that his computer got so messed up by a virus that he could not even boot the computer. He thinks the hardware may have been infected and says that the Best Buy techs. have not gotten it started yet. Do you think he is exagerrating or have we gotten to a new and terrible level of evil computer hackers who want to destroy the world of e-commerce? Without further ado, let the cyber war begin and may we come up with some offensive tactics that will make the hackers think twice before taking the step of destroying more people's computers. I am ready, willing and prepared. Are You?
That's not unheard of... I think a boot-sector virus could do something like that.
Peace & Luv, Liz
It's possible. ;D
I've heard of viruses that make it to ROM (meaning they stay hiding even when your computer is off). In this case, the hardware the virus attacks is memory. But usually viruses aren't that bad. Back in the DOS/Win3.x era, the really "good" ones would infect COMMAND.COM and/or the boot sector.
Usually if you boot up with an anti-virus emergency disk, it cleans it all up. :) McAfee has this feature, as well as Norton if you are running Win9x. Higher operating systems don't use command.com in their boot-up sequence, and thus don't have emergency disks.
Quote from: Yonkey on June 21, 2004, 03:01:52 PM
It's possible. ;D
I've heard of viruses that make it to ROM (meaning they stay hiding even when your computer is off).
If a virus makes it to your ROM (which can only happen with flash-ROM) no boot disk or software in the world can help you - you'll probably need to replace the ROM or have it re-programmed in a special device. You may even need to replace the entire motherboard in some cases :o
However, this could be avoided in most systems by setting a jumper to disable writing to the flash ROM 8)
Or, just never flash your BIOS with a virus-infected floppy disk. XD
Thanks for your input, Neil. Any suggestions on the best way to keep computer users safe from all the problems with viruses, spyware, malware, hack attempts, etc.?
Quote from: Yonkey on June 21, 2004, 07:06:58 PM
Or, just never flash your BIOS with a virus-infected floppy disk. XD
Yeah, not getting viruses in the firstplace is a very good idea ;-D
i could try and hack your computer Kimmie :P :suffer:
Quote from: dew7 on June 22, 2004, 02:01:50 AM
Thanks for your input, Neil. Any suggestions on the best way to keep computer users safe from all the problems with viruses, spyware, malware, hack attempts, etc.?
It's not really as hard as it sounds. All you need is:
- anti-virus software (preferably one that automatically updates its definitions)
- adaware/spy bot or whatever your favourite spyware cleaner is, (but again make sure you update its reference file before performing the scan)
- firewall (I suggest ZoneAlarm since it works well and is free)
Some simple guidlelines to staying safe:
- don't open attachments from strangers, especially if they aren't *.gif or *.jpeg
- if the attachment is *.zip, scan it for viruses first
- if you borrow disks from other people, make sure you scan them for viruses before running programs or opening documents
- don't accept ActiveX certificates from non-trustworthy sites
- when installing ad-supported software, try opting out of their third party sponsors (if given the option)
- only allow programs to access the internet if you KNOW they need to connect to the internet to do something (i.e. an e-mail program must use the internet to check mail, MSN needs it, but something like Adobe Photoshop does not)
I think that works fine, unless you have something they(hackers) want. If you're a specific target, it's much harder.
Hehe, well usually if you're a target, you know who's targetting you, meaning you can get their IP and block any and all firewall requests from that IP. XD
Anyway, that's getting too techy heh, and the majority of users don't need to worry about getting hacked as long as they don't provoke hackers. 8)
I think people pay too much attention to a person's IP. If they know what they're doing, I doubt knowing their IP would help. It's like breaking into a house, if they want in, they're going to get in(consider Half-Life 2). So, I normally think a fake house(with lots of security) is best. If they spend all their time trying to get into the wrong house(and you are able to know if they get in), you'll know if they can get into your real one. Although, I'm not sure what to do after that...
The only better way I can think of, is being offline, or making sure you have everything backed up.
Are you talking about IP spoofing? Actually what you suggest is actually how a hardware firewall (NAT) works. It's the first line of defense against hackers because its IP acts as a gateway to your network, but your actual computer has a different local IP.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in that list to go to Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/) often (or the equivalent place for your particular O/S). Not only are patches for security holes provided, but they also provide bug fixes for programs and the operating system. :)
I wouldn't know, I don't use a hardware firewall. I don't have much use for one.
Neil I have heard that you should have:
1. Hardware Firewall
2. Software Firewall
3. Antivirus Software
4. Antispyware Software
5. Extra protection like SpywareBlaster and HOSTS file
manager from Microsoft MVP's
6. Common sense -- eg. careful what you click
7. Treat e-mail address like social security number --
use plain text to read -- login with 128 bit encryption and have a second e-mail throw away account with address book of accepted addresses and everything else goes to bulk e-mail
8. Best solution just stay off-line and have information that is worthless to hackers on your computer -- no identity information and no financial or corporate information stored on it --- just have hard copies locked up securly in a hidden area of your home or at Fort Knox --- last part kidding LOL ;-D
Hahaha yup, that's about all of em. ;P Don't forget the WindowsUpdate thing and a Hardware Firewall is only necessary if you are using a router to access the Internet. ;D
All right and thanks Neil! It makes me wonder though, how many people are willing to go through all these hoops just to have a fairly secure computer when using the Internet? ???
If you there is no data on your PC worth keeping private(bank acount info), just backup your files to a PC/hardrive/CD/zip/whatever. Then you won't have to use as much security.
With many Linux distros, there is a simple option. Just select the paranoia option, then everyone will have trouble getting to your files(including you).
Imagine making it super hard for you to get to your data. Oh Well! I guess no more important stuff on the pc in the future. Too dangerous -- nowadays :>
:) I see you are back on the Forum Kimmie, Is your Computer working now. Will you not be returning to MSN.
All you need is a firewall, anti-spyware and anti-virus scanner ;D
I dont have a firewall though ;), BTW hacking doesnt occur that often AFAIK :S
Jason, I do not know how many times hacks are attempted but port scans are really common.
Well, I was gone for a week, and it took me forever to catch up on the posts! I don't even want to know how long it's going to take you!
just click on the button *mark as read* and start over, that is how i continued (at two boards) after my week of absence ;-D
But what happens if someone posts in that thead after you've already marked it as read??
Cat
Then it becomes unread again. XD
:o :o :o it does?? ;-D ; )
it is just the same as you read a thread (normaly) and someone posts after you did that
So what's the point of marking the thread as read?? Email notification is good for this...you reply, and then if someone else replies after you look at the thread, you get another email. Clogs up the inbox, but worth it when trying to catch up!
Cat
I guess the Mark as Read is to take away all the orange things that say "New!". If you've been gone for months, that's a lot of orange thingies. ;P
Very true...so THAT'S what the "new" signs mean...hmmm, I was wondering :P
Cat
even if you are away for a week there are lots of orange thingies ;-D
I've been gone for just a couple of days, and now the forum looks like a plague of orange thingies :o
Of course, I had lots of them before :P
But I never use "mark as read" to take them out!! :o :o :o
That's like giving up on all the posts you haven't read!
That's like saying "I don't give a crap what you wrote when I was gone"! :o
Besides, you might miss important stuff that way. What if someone said something nice about MOE and I've marked it as read? That person might go on with his/her life with no one to correct them and show them the path of the righteous, and I will have neglected my sacred duty and my sole purpose on this forum and in life! :o :o :o
Quote from: Storm on July 05, 2004, 11:11:08 AM
Besides, you might miss important stuff that way. What if someone said something nice about MOE and I've marked it as read? That person might go on with his/her life with no one to correct them and show them the path of the righteous, and I will have neglected my sacred duty and my sole purpose on this forum and in life! :o :o :o
Hahahaha! :suffer: The sick part is that I think someone actually did say something nice about it in your absense. :X
Oh no! They didn't?? :o Storm, go hunt them down!
Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Yonkey? :o :o :o
*Goes hunting*